World cyclo cross champion Nys to continue racing for at least another two years

Belgian backtracks on earlier declaration that he was likely to stop next year

Although he’s approaching his 37th birthday and had talked about possible retirement earlier this winter, Sven Nys has now declared that he will continue at least two more years in the sport, and could even remain active for three.

“I want a life where I can wake up without immediately thinking, what is the weather like, and what exactly does that mean for my training?” he said in November. “I have to do that 24 hours a day. If my plane is going to land, I check that my knees are certainly not coming into contact with the seat in front of me. It goes that far. I also want to stop when I am still among the best. If everything’s too hard, then maybe I went a year too far.”

However he also admitted that his wife and son wanted him to keep going beyond that point. “When I talk to my son Thibau about quitting, he blinks away a tear. For him it is a party every week, going to the cross, and having a large playground to cycle around.

“If I told him that I was going to race another ten years, he’d jump a hole in the sky. He knows only too well that this time may never come back. There are many people around me who say I could easily go on, but in my head I'm ready to quit.”

Morale boosted by the second rainbow jersey of his career, he now sees things a different way and will push on until 38 or possibly 39 years of age.

Nys has been dominant in the sport, although in recent years he has had tougher times with a younger generation coming through. He nevertheless continued to win big races, and in January turned back the clock to take another world title.